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A New Lease on Life: Health for Virginians with Mental Illness What is A New Lease on Life? A New Lease on Life is a $2 million special initiative to provide uninsured Virginians with treatment for basic mental health services, and to provide primary medical care and prescriptions medicines to uninsured Virginians with serious mental illness. It combines the expertise and talents of local health safety net organizations (free clinics, community health centers) and local community services boards to address serious unmet needs through two innovative approaches. The results of their combined efforts will serve as models for other areas of the state, and improve the overall health and well being for many uninsured Virginians who suffer from mental illness. Read the news release in which Governor McDonnell announced the recipients of the A New Lease on Life grants.
Who is leading this initiative? A New Lease on Life is a collaboration between the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, the Virginia Health Care Foundation, the Virginia Community Healthcare Association (VACHA), the Virginia Association of Free Clinics (VAFC) and the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards (VACSB). In February 2009, then Attorney General Bob McDonnell awarded a $1 million challenge grant to VHCF and its partners in order to provide greatly needed care and treatment to Virginians with mental illness. The money derives from settlement funds that Virginia received as part of a multi-state case.
Why is this initiative needed? Since the decision was made 10 years ago that community services boards (CSBs) should only use their state funds to treat the seriously mentally ill, uninsured Virginians suffering from basic mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety often have nowhere to go. A growing number have found their way to their local health safety net providers (free clinics, community health centers, and similar providers).
Depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions have been among the top diagnoses for many patients of Virginia’s free clinics (after diabetes and hypertension). Likewise, psychosis has been the most frequent diagnosis for uninsured patients admitted to local hospitals with potentially avoidable conditions.
At the same time, while Virginia’s seriously mentally ill can obtain treatment for their mental illnesses from the CSBs, many have no source of basic medical care because they are uninsured. As a result, various chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, frequent side-effects of psychotropic medications, go untreated. One solution to this problem is a partnership where a local health safety net provider offers primary medical care and related prescription medicines to CSB patients, who are capable of being compliant with doctor’s orders.
How will A New Lease on Life be implemented? The entire $2 million will underwrite 9, three-year grants to a broad cross-section of the Commonwealth’s health safety net providers and CSBs. These grants were awarded via a competitive process, based on a specially developed Request for Proposals. Each of these initiatives demonstrates collaboration between a health safety net provider and a local CSB, ensures access to needed prescription medications, and expands or establishes the following:
How, specifically, will A New Lease on Life grant funds be used? Organizations providing basic mental health services are using grant funds to hire mental health professionals (Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, etc.) to treat uninsured patients suffering from depression, anxiety, and other similar illnesses. Most of these conditions are biological and can be treated with medication and some disease-management skills which combine teaching about symptom control and problem-solving, with supportive listening. Some funds are also being used to pay for psychiatric consultations related to appropriate medications.
Those interested in providing medical care to seriously mentally ill clients from local CSBs will use the funds to hire necessary medical staff (e.g. Physician, Nurse Practitioner, Physician’s Assistants), and underwrite some related costs, including prescription medications. How many patients will be served through this initiative? It is estimated that during the first year of funding, the nine grantees will serve more than 2,000 patients with basic mental health needs through nearly 16,000 mental health visits, and more than 1,000 seriously mentally ill patients through more than 3,600 primary care visits. Which local initiatives are receiving grant funding through A New Lease on Life? The grantees (with lead organization in bold) are listed below. Click for more details on these initiatives.
Will the local initiatives continue after the three-year grant period? Yes. Grants were only awarded to applicants with a specific and viable sustainability plan. VHCF has a documented record of success in selecting and supporting sustainable initiatives: 89% of VHCF-funded projects continue at or above their prior level of performance for at least three years after “graduating” from VHCF funding.
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